A HP Invent logo is pictured in front of Hewlett-Packard international offices in Meyrin near Geneva in this August 4, 2009, file photo. Hewlett-Packard Co said on November 20, 2012, it took an $8.8 billion charge related to its acquisition of software firm Autonomy, citing "serious accounting improprieties," as it swung to a fourth-quarter loss. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files

Black Friday bargain shoppers weren't just at the malls this year, as investors on Wall Street picked up shares in technology companies that have struggled this year, sending indexes back above landmark levels.

During a session that closed at 10 a.m. Pacific time in a nod to the Thanksgiving holiday that closed markets on Thursday, all three major U.S. stock indexes gained at least 1.3 percent, with the Dow Jones closing higher than 13,000 and the Standard & Poor's surpassing 1,400. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed short of the 3,000 mark, but had the largest gain of the day at 1.4 percent.

As evidenced by the Nasdaq's move, tech stocks were an important driver for Friday's gains, with investors looking to grab Silicon Valley stocks, such as companies in the damaged personal-computer industry, that have fallen steadily in the past few months. The SV150 index of the region's largest tech companies increased more than the major national indexes with a 1.5 percent bump.

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"Anyone that was on the sidelines waiting for a pullback like the one we just had in some of the tech names, they're looking for any glimpse of strong price action for 'permission' to enter into those (stocks)," Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research, told Reuters.

Canadian mobile-tech company Research in Motion had one of the largest increases on the day, jumping 13.7 percent as it nears the Jan. 30 release of its newest operating system, which it hopes will pull the company's shares out of a long-term downward spiral. RIM stock, which once surpassed $140, closed Friday at $11.66 after a gain of $1.40.

"After Walmart, I'm going to Target next," Fremont resident Katrina Anderson said Thursday evening as she filed into the retail giant in her hometown. "Then I will be going to Babies R Us, Toys R Us. Eventually I will get to Sears and Home Depot."

Three separate "door-buster" promotions from Thursday evening through early Friday morning helped Wal-Mart set records for sales, the company announced Friday, helping send its stock price up 1.9 percent.

Anecdotally, shoppers said deals weren't as good as last year, but bargain-seekers seemed more willing to spend this year as the economy has healed even more from the Great Recession.

Melanie Black, general manager of Eastridge Mall in San Jose, said she was "shocked" by the crowds packing the mall after its midnight opening. "This is what it was four or five years ago," she said, happy to see the return of pre-recession crowd levels.

Retailers hope that Americans get back to spending big money for the holiday season, as their profitability depends on it.

"You live or die based upon whether you win Black Friday," retail consultant Britt Beemer said.

Online shopping expected to grow strongly this year, with tablets at top

eBay and Amazon should dominate online purchases this holiday season, ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo said this week. "The eBay and Amazon marketplaces are looking the strongest heading into the holiday," he wrote in a blog post. eBay and Amazon shares both increased 0.8 percent Friday.

Tablets are at the top of many wish lists, according to an Ipsos/Thomson Reuters poll, though Apple's new iPad Mini isn't showing up in many people's letters to Santa. Only 8 percent of those saying they wanted a new tablet this holiday season were yearning for the smaller version of Apple's iconic tablet, the same percentage that wanted Microsoft's new Surface offering. The full-sized iPad still topped lists, however.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Up 18.12, or 1.3 percent, to 1,409.15

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak.